In a newly published study (summarized in Faculty Focus, Aug 16, 2017), students were asked to prioritize the instructor qualities that consistently make a difference in how they learn. For those of us just starting a new academic year, it’s the whole list that merits review, self-appraisal and recommitment. The questions for instructors involve the extent to which their teaching demonstrates these characteristics and via what instructional behaviors, policies, and practices they are being communicated. Here are the characteristics, in random order:
• Assertive – the teacher has a strong personality, is independent, competitive, and forceful
• Responsive – the teacher has compassion, is helpful, sincere, friendly, and sensitive to student needs
• Clear – the teacher presents content in ways that students can understand, answers questions, has clear course objectives
• Relevant – the teacher uses examples, explanations, and exercises that make the course content relevant to students’ careers and personal goals
• Competent – the teacher is a content expert, intelligent, and knows how to teach
• Trustworthy – the teacher is honest, genuine, and abides by ethical standards
• Caring – the teacher cares about students, understands them, and has their best interests at heart
• Immediate – the teacher’s nonverbal behaviors are expressive; the teacher smiles, nods, uses gestures, makes eye contact, and doesn’t speak in a monotone
• Humorous – the teacher uses humor frequently
• Discloses – the teacher reveals an appropriate amount of personal information when it’s relevant to the topic
Teaching is sometimes described as a gift; some teachers are endowed with it and then there’s the rest of us. But most teachers who are good at what they do have worked hard to get that way and continue to improve and refine their teaching. They take their professional development seriously and believe they can always get better. Further, none of the characteristics on this list is something we were born with. All of them involve learned behaviors that can be demonstrated and communicated in different ways, and no teacher can do them all equally well.